Michelle Haimoff

Michelle Haimoff is a writer, blogger and activist. Her writing has appeared in PsychologyToday.com, The Huffington Post and The Los Angeles Times. She is a founding member of NOW’s Young Feminist Task Force and blogs about First World Feminism at genfem.com.

Posts Written by Michelle

The Invisible War


I find it difficult to sit through documentaries. This may be due to my short attention span, which has been shot by the internet, or my shallow reluctance to choose educational films over lighter ones. But this week I saw a screening of The Invisible War and, if you are at all interested in current women’s issues, which I assume you are if you read Feministing, I promise you, in writing, that you will love this documentary.

The Invisible War is about sexual assault in the United States military. It doesn’t sound like a fun topic and it’s not a fun topic, but it’s an important one and one that almost nobody has covered before. The film is fast, powerful and totally absorbing. It reminded me of the movie A Few Good Men. I now have greater insight into the US Armed Forces and the people who serve in them.

Also, and perhaps most importantly, the film is changing policy. A handful of government and military officials have already seen it and there is a petition you can sign to mandate that The Invisible War become a required part of each Service’s officer accession training and officer developmental education programs. As U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer (who was at the screening) said, “There are so few things that really change things in Washington.” This is one of them.

I implore you to make a point of finding a screening of

Barney’s starves Disney characters for the holidays

Photo from Examiner.com

A group of evil villains at Barney’s decided that they want to use creepy, anorexic versions of Minnie, Mickey, Daisy and Goofy in their holiday ad campaign because the regular versions of these beloved characters are too fat for designer clothes.

Barney’s Creative Director Dennis Freedman reportedly said, “The standard Minnie Mouse will not look so good in a Lanvin dress.” So he decided to make Minnie 5’11” and a size 0. He continued, “When you see Goofy, Minnie and Mickey, they are runway models.” He also said, “The important thing to me was always that it had to be authentic.” In fairness, the word “authentic” might have a different meaning in the fashion world. It might mean ...

Photo from Examiner.com

A group of evil villains at Barney’s decided that they want to use creepy, anorexic versions of Minnie, Mickey, Daisy and Goofy in their holiday ad campaign because the regular versions of these beloved ...

Katniss Everdeen, I’ve Been Waiting for You

Reposted from genfem.com

If I had to use one word to describe my experience watching The Hunger Games, it would be relief. I finally got the female protagonist I’ve been waiting for all my life. Neither a sex symbol nor an anti-sex symbol, Katniss is just a normal person who rises to a challenge. She’s brave without being fearless, on her game without being perfect, strong without being a bitch. Granted she’s got an athletic edge, but it is really her focus and perseverance that enables her to survive.

Jennifer Lawrence was perfectly cast as Katniss; a beautiful girl, but not unrealistically so. In particularly harrowing scenes she looks the way any of us might look after a long day. The ...

Reposted from genfem.com

If I had to use one word to describe my experience watching The Hunger Games, it would be relief. I finally got the female protagonist I’ve been waiting for all my life. Neither a ...

Is New Girl Getting Better?

I want to like New Girl. I haven’t missed an episode this season. It is kind of funny. It is original. But Zooey Dechanel, or Jess (though it always sounds like she’s saying “Joss!”), so often comes across as a mentally challenged child, that I find the show to be as unbearable as it is entertaining.

Not only does it feel like a live action version of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs with Jess as the gang’s merry caretaker, but I don’t like how her guy roommates always seems to make her nervous, like they might actually lose it on her at some point. The way she acts around them reminds me of the way people with explosive significant others ...

I want to like New Girl. I haven’t missed an episode this season. It is kind of funny. It is original. But Zooey Dechanel, or Jess (though it always sounds like she’s saying “Joss!”), so often comes ...

Just Click On It

Cross posted on genfem.com

I went to a screening of PBS’s “Women, War and Peace” at the Feminist Majority Foundation in Los Angeles last week, followed by a conversation between Mavis Leno, Gayle Lemmon and Katherine Spillar. It was my first feminist event in LA and I assumed the crowd wasn’t going to be as hardcore as the feminist crowd in New York, but I could not have been any more wrong. It was possibly the most accomplished room of women I have ever been in. Everyone had written a book, shot a documentary, started a nonprofit, or in some cases, all of the above. These women knew their stuff and they were very much aware of ...

Cross posted on genfem.com

I went to a screening of PBS’s “Women, War and Peace” at the Feminist Majority Foundation in Los Angeles last week, followed by a conversation between Mavis Leno, Gayle Lemmon ...

What Walmart and Brett Easton Ellis Don’t Have in Common

I went to a reading by Brett Easton Ellis recently where he mentioned, without a hint of apology, that he was a misogynist. He said it the way someone might say that he was a vegetarian or an atheist.

I was confused at the time about what that said about me, being someone who reads, watches and observes everything from a feminist perspective on one hand, and a die hard Brett Easton Ellis fan on the other. But I was left with the same feeling of confusion after reading American Psycho and thinking it was THE Great American Novel. It’s refreshing to have someone come right out and say that he hates women. Misogyny is so prevalent and so something no one ...

I went to a reading by Brett Easton Ellis recently where he mentioned, without a hint of apology, that he was a misogynist. He said it the way someone might say that he was a vegetarian or ...

10 Interesting Things Gail Dines Said on Wednesday Night

Cross-posted on genfem.com

Internationally acclaimed activist, scholar and social critic Gail Dines, author of Pornland: How Porn Has Hijacked Our Sexuality spoke about the way in which today’s porn industry has become a cultural force transforming our sexual identities, attitudes and relationships. Here are 10 interesting takeaways:

Cross-posted on genfem.com

Internationally acclaimed activist, scholar and social critic Gail Dines, author of Pornland: How Porn Has Hijacked Our Sexuality spoke about the way in which today’s porn industry has become a cultural force transforming our ...

Salt!

Cross-posted on genfem.com

Finally, Hollywood does what it should have been doing all along: casting women in leading roles written for men. This is what happened with “Salt” (Tom Cruise was supposed to star but pulled out because the film too closely resembled “Mission Impossible”) and Angelina Jolie nailed the role perfectly as a female action hero who substitutes cleverness and skill for brawn.

The movie has grossed $109,895,105 to date, though Jolie has gotten slack for being “glacial” and exuding too much “iciness” But as Snarky’s Cinemachine writes in a Bitch Magazine review entitled “Evelyn Salt should smile more!,” “remarks regarding Evelyn Salt’s personality are not productive critiques of the film’s deficits, particularly when ...

Cross-posted on genfem.com

Finally, Hollywood does what it should have been doing all along: casting women in leading roles written for men. This is what happened with “Salt” (Tom Cruise was supposed to star but pulled ...

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